Lyons village councilman hit by car

LYONS, Mich. (WOOD) - A potential case of road rage left one man in the hospital, and he may face charges.

Witnesses told 24 Hour News 8 they were shocked and scared after seeing Tuesday afternoon's accident.

"I'm still shook up from this," eyewitness Pamela Butler said. "Nobody, I mean nobody needs to be put through this -- what I seen."

Butler said she saw the whole thing.

She was working at Lyons Party Store on East Bridge Street, she said, and was out on a break when she looked down the street and saw a crash.

"I seen [Richard Schaefer] start going around this way and then [Allen Orbin] was turning around like this and [Schaefer] just hit him," Butler said.

At about 2 p.m. Tuesday, 46-year-old Orbin, a village councilman, was hit by a car down the street from the party store. Officials said Schaefer was behind the wheel.

"It was a type of road rage incident where two cars were involved," Michigan State Police Trooper Dan Drew said.

Orbin had been tailgating 70-year-old Schaefer for about one mile before he passed him and got out of his car, Drew told 24 Hour News 8.

Schaefer said in a phone conversation Tuesday evening he tried to drive around Orbin but wasn't able to hit his brakes quickly enough, and ended up hitting him.

"It was just a freak accident," Schaefer said. "He stepped right out in front of me."

Drew told 24 Hour News 8 that Schaefer was not charged with anything at the scene.

Since Orbin was tailgating and got out of his car, he may face charges of reckless or careless driving, Drew said. The two men did know each other before the accident, Schaefer told 24 Hour News 8. His daughter had dated Orbin previously.

Officials said nothing happened Tuesday leading up to the road rage incident.

24 Hour News 8 confirmed through Orbin's wife he was taken to St. Mary's Hospital and has a fracture in his leg, but is expected to make a full recovery.